Thai Fishcakes with crunchy peanut salad

This recipe can be a little time consuming so ideal for a weekend. However the good news is that the fishcakes can be made the night before and simply left in the fridge ready to fry up when you get home!

It is a delicious dish that is full of oriental flavours. If you are not a fan of spicy flavours it may be best to sit this dish out…having said that my eldest son (aged 11) enjoyed it so why not just give it a shot?

This dish would also make a fantastic starter at a dinner party!

There are a LOT of ingredients, but like I’ve said before I built my stock up of oriental bits slowly and I find it more economical and authentic to buy them from the Chinese supermarket. If you don’t have most of them already in your cupboard, then this could be quite pricey for you, but in the long run if you are going to try cooking more chinese and Thai dishes it will be worth it!

Coconut oil for frying (5p – you can use any oil but B&M had a fantastic offer on coconut oil at just £1.50 for a big jar! It can set you back a fortune at the health shops!)

Fishcake Method

Put the fish, coriander, zest and juice of lime, chopped spring onions, curry paste, chilli, salt, fish sauce & garlic in a bowl. Mix with a spoon. Whizz with blender. I used a hand blender. Dont make it too puree if you can help it.

Add the egg and mix well.

Divide the mixture into 12 even sized balls and put on a plate (or 2). Squash each one down with spoon or your palm to make them flat. Pop in the fridge until you are ready to cook.

Now make that salad….

Thai Peanut Salad

Ingredients

1/4 lettuce, shredded (12p, Aldi)

1/4 white cabbage (12p, Aldi)

1/4 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and cubed (7p, Aldi)

100g carrot, peeled and shredded (4p, Aldi)

1 red pepper (29p, Aldi)

2 spring onions, chopped (12p, Aldi)

1/2 bunch coriander (17p, Aldi)

30g peanuts (7p, Aldi)

For the dressing-

60ml white rice vinegar (13p, chinese supermarket)

60ml sweet chilli sauce (14p, chinese supermarket)

1 tsp sesame oil (5p, chinese supermarket)

1/2 tsp sugar (1p)

Pinch of salt and pepper

For the Peanut Sauce-

60ml peanut butter (15p, Aldi)

2 tbsp light soy sauce (10p, Aldi)

1 tbsp white rice vinegar (4p, Chinese supermarket)

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce (4p, Chinese supermarket)

2 tbsp water

Method

Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl, except for peanuts. Toss.

Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix. Set aside.

Make the peanut sauce in another small bowl by combining ingredients. Set aside.

Fry your fishcakes about 3 minutes each side. I did mine in batches of 3 and kept them warm in the oven.

When ready ( nicely browned on each side) toss the dressing in the salad and dish up. Drizzle the peanut sauce on top of the salad and then sprinkle with a few peanuts. Serve salad next to the fishcakes…3 per person.

If you have fussy kids (like 1 of mine) and they won’t eat the salad then maybe serve some rice or even potato wedges with it!